Emerging from the peak of the global pandemic, Israel is preparing to welcome back tourists, with the first international guests due to begin arriving from Greece on 1st August. The announcement follows a visit of Greece Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakisis, to Israel in recent days. In the mean time, Israel’s capital Jerusalem is beginning to reopen to domestic tourists with attractions, restaurants and hotels already opening their doors.
Chosen by TripAdvisor as the fourth most promising destination in the world and declared a favourite destination by the CEO and founder, Stephen Kaufer, Jerusalem is making its mark as a ‘bucket list’ destination around the world. In addition to its ancient history and cultural roots, the city has emerged as a culinary force, placing in the top 50 best culinary locations for travel in 2017, whilst both Harper’s Bazaar and Conde Nast include Jerusalem’s hotels in their luxury guides.
In preparation to welcome visitors back to the city, Jerusalem’s attractions, services and hospitality venues are reopening in line with strict health regulations enforced by Israel’s Ministry of Health. These measures follow recent research which studied the behaviour of 200 countries around the world during the Covid-19 crisis and listed Israel in third place on the list of safest countries.
Sharon E. Bershadsky, Director of the Israel Government Tourist Office UK: “We are thrilled to see the Israel tourism industry begin to open up again, including the world-famous hotels, restaurants and attractions of Jerusalem. We are currently working with travel industry partners and friends in the UK to make sure travel and Israel is even more exciting and enjoyable for our UK visitors, and we look forward to welcoming them back soon.”
HOTELS
As of this week, six hotels are already open to guests: Alegra, Waldorf Astoria, Leonardo Plaza, Post-Hostel, Prima Kings and Arthur, offering a total of 762 rooms to Jerusalem’s visitors. Later this week, two more hotels are expected to open: Inbal and Ramat-Rahel.
In July, six more hotels are due to open, which will offer 1,516 more rooms to travellers, including: Mamilla, David Citadel, Orient, King David, Leonardo and Abraham hostel. These will be followed by the Ibis, Dan Jerusalem, Olive Tree and Herbert Samuel (1,171 more rooms) in August when the Ministry of Tourism is considering reopening borders to ‘green countries’. This opening schedule would lead to peak summer, by which almost all of Jerusalem’s 4,000 rooms will be available.
RESTAURANTS
Approximately three weeks ago, restaurants began to reopen once again to the general public under health and safety restrictions. Now, most of Jerusalem’s restaurants have reopened, in addition to the city’s culinary gem – the Mahane Yehuda market – which is open for business as well.
Restaurant trading restrictions include ensuring the distance between tables is at least 1.5 meters, whilst bookings are strongly encouraged. Meanwhile, all incoming guests will be subject to heat measurements. Further, venues that accommodate over 100 people will be restricted to an 85 per cent capacity.
ATTRACTIONS & MUSEUMS
Pre-bookings and pre-payments will be available in all tourist attractions, including those which have already opened, such as the Ramparts Walk, Tzadikaya Cave, Givat Ram Amphitheater, Ammunition Hill, the National Library, the Biblical Zoo, the Aquarium, Gazelle Valley, the Botanical Gardens, Ein Karem, Yamin Moshe, and more.
Among Jerusalem’s museums and archaeological sites, many are already back open, including The City of David’s night show, open areas, promenades, Tower of David and a new exhibition, the Western Wall Tunnels and the Western Wall. Other museums open include the Hertzel Museum, Islamic Art Museum, Music Museum, Nature Museum and the Friends of Zion Museum.
EVENTS
World-renowned Jerusalem events are also back; the Wohl Rose Park ‘kitchen’ is back in business every day until 17:00, and on Thursday until midnight offering different unique performances. Meanwhile, Yoga at Guy-Ben-Hinom is being held every Friday.
The food truck at Guy-Ben-Hinom will be open, starting in July every week from Tuesday to Thursday, whilst the Jerusalem Lyric Opera Festival is set to be held from 6th July until the 2nd of August. Other exciting events back on the calendar in July and August include the Jerusalem Art Festival, Leonard da Vinci 500, Beer-Garden at the first station and the famous film festival.
Later in the year, the ever-popular and world-famous Open Restaurants festival is still set to take place in November or December, whilst Open House is set to take place on 29th to 31st October.
